Archive for Unit 3 Concepts

The Long Tail Theory is basically a theory that, if you are able to negate the cost of items, people would tend to buy the “non-mainstream” products, as opposed to products that normally sell in large quantity. There are always some products that sell large quantities to the general masses (i.e. Ipod Touch), but there are also many, sometimes hundreds, of similar products that serve the same purpose (Zune and other Mp3 players). Whether the reason be the cost, name recognition, or some other factor, these other products don’t sell as well as the leading product. However, with the Long Tail Theory, if cost was negligible, it shows that people would tend to buy the less “mainstream” products in the market. These other products are what make up the “long tail”. It is supposed to show that small businesses can succeed with the lowering of prices, and that it will make the market a bit more fair.

Cloud Computing is basically a way of putting multiple files into one single source that can be accessed on multiple mediums. So, for example, if you put Mp3 files into the “cloud” on your computer, you would automatically have the ability to access them on your iPod or cell phone, among other things. This isn’t limited to just media files though, as it can be used for regular information, assignments, papers, etc. as well. Almost all of us use cloud computing and we don’t even realize it! A really good example of cloud computing is when you use D2L to submit an assignment to the dropbox for a class.

There are still doubts about this kind of cloud computing, as it isn’t yet a perfect science. However, if cloud computing could be perfected, then we’d be able to access ALL of our files from multiple devices. It sounds great, doesn’t it?

This is the theory that as time moves on, people buy less and less of the mainstream goods and instead buy the smaller hard-to-find ones.

I found a helpful paragraph from longtail.com that helps me understand it better. “When consumers are offered infinite choice, the true shape of demand is revealed. And it turns out to be less hit-centric than we thought. People gravitate towards niches because they satisfy narrow interests better, and in one aspect of our life or another we all have some narrow interest (whether we think of it that way or not).”

It shows how if you could choose anything, costs aside, you wouldn’t choose the mainstream thing. We just choose the mainstream because it is easier to get and cheaper. The online shopping world of Ebay, Amazon, etc. is helping to move the world into a “Long Tail” kind of world.

With the Long Tail Theory, it describes how companies either do a good job selling a few products to a lot of people or if they do better selling hundreds of products to one individual. When it comes to the “long tail,” the companies that are able to make sales online without having to worry about storing their actual products benefit in making sales because the products or songs, MP3s, videos that they sell are unlimited in what their sellers they can choose from. When companies have a limited storage area that they can store their products, they’re unable to make as many sales because of the few products they have on hand.